Lahore police arrest 65 in anti-smog operations, register 37 cases

Lahore police arrested 65 people and registered 37 cases in operations against smog-related activity, UrduPoint reported on Thursday, as the provincial capital heads into the winter months when its air quality worsens sharply.

The report gave the two totals but did not say where the operations took place, which laws the cases were registered under, or what those arrested are accused of. No statement from a named police official accompanied the figures, and they could not be independently confirmed.

Anti-smog enforcement in Punjab has in recent winters targeted brick kilns, smoke-emitting and unfit vehicles, and the burning of crop residue and waste, with authorities at times declaring smog emergencies in the worst-hit districts. The report did not say whether this week's arrests fell into those categories.

Lahore and the surrounding plains routinely record hazardous air quality between November and February, when vehicle and industrial emissions, kiln smoke and stubble burning are trapped near the ground by cool, still air. Hospitals in the city report a seasonal rise in respiratory and cardiac cases in those months.

Because the report carried no figures from earlier drives, it was not possible to say whether arrests had risen or fallen compared with previous seasons.

Under Pakistani law, police register a first information report before investigation begins; an FIR records a complaint and is not a finding of guilt.

Smog has become a recurring winter crisis across Punjab, prompting school closures, limits on outdoor activity and restrictions on heavy vehicles on the worst days in recent years. Enforcement drives are usually announced by district administrations and provincial environment and police departments, which publish daily or weekly tallies of cases and fines.

The figures reported by UrduPoint could not be checked against any official tally, and it was not clear whether the 37 cases were filed in a single day or over a longer period.